


Surprise Visit

by RelarOfFire



Category: Kingkiller Chronicles - Patrick Rothfuss
Genre: Gen, Sloppy Writing, Something I wrote super fast, i mean i did it in under a half hour for someone, like when i say i wrote it quickly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-10 00:06:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10424847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelarOfFire/pseuds/RelarOfFire
Summary: Dedan and Hespa stumble into the Waystone with little gremlins of their own, and Kote tries to not reveal himself to the two of them.





	

There was a loud bustling outside, making Kote and Bast pause their conversation for a small moment. The two looked puzzled; it wasn’t time for the noon rush yet. Everyone was still out and about in the fields, or working on the farms. Were they taking an early day perhaps?

Kote pushed himself up from the table and went to see what was going on, before the inn door flew open, children screeching and running in like banshees from hell. Two parents walked in after the little gremlins, who were currently tracking dirt and grass all over the inn.

Bast was gone. He literally left as fast as humanly possible without drawing attention to himself.

Kote turned to ask for help, but saw he was gone, and sighed. Listening to the adults bicker, he walked to go greet them in the least, dodging children along the wall. “Hello! Welcome to the Waystone Inn. Passing through, I assume?”

The woman looked to him, pausing, and just watching him.

Kote jumped from the intensity of her stare, smiling sheepishly and looking to the burly man. “A-Are these your children?”

“Yeah.” He said, rather bluntly. Not really… offering much else in return.

“O-Oh, uh… they are… lovely. Um, can I help you two?” Kote asked, growing more anxious with his Inn being trashed by children and two rather large people just staring at him.

“You look familiar.” The woman said, crossing her arms softly, stepping in and around the innkeeper. “Must be the red hair.”

Watching her saunter off to grab a kid, it didn’t take him long to click onto who she was. It was hard to have a walk like her’s and not be a seasoned fighter. Hespa… God, he meet her as a kid! He was only a teen around that time; she was still alive? Not to say she wasn’t smart; but she was brutish in manners and, well, the job she had was shit. Low living rates.

“Didn’t we know a red head?” The man asked, closing the door and moving past Kote. “Ale for me. Food for the kids.” He said, looking down to Kote as he walked passed.

“Sure. A ton.” Hespa replied, trying to corral some of the six screeching kids into one area and table. “At least three.”

The man grunted a bit, trying to help her in moving the kids around and getting them to stop being terrors to the place.

Kote quickly slipped back into the kitchen, grasping his chest and leaning against the wall, silently screaming. How the /hell/ did she get all the way out to where he was?! Why was she even there!? Kids?! What if she recognized him?! What would he do!!?

“Reshi?” Bast whispered, peeking in from the door that lead out back. “Are they gone?”

Kote turned swiftly, color drained from his face and heart racing. “Hm? No. No.” he shoo his head swiftly, hair jostling into a bit of a mess. “No, there are a lot of them and – oh man. Get in here and help me cook!” He marched over, managing to grab the fae before he slipped away.

“But Reshi!!”

“You’re supposed to be _helping_ me, Bast. I can’t go out there.” 

“What do you mean you can’t? You own the place.”

“I can’t go out there again. Not right now.”

Bast tilted his head, “Scared?”

“SURE.” Kote said shortly, already cutting up meat and rushing around the kitchen. “Whatever will get you to help me out for five minutes and not let me die.”

Bast put his hands on his hips, “Well aren’t you being the over dramatic on here today.”

“BAST.”

“Reeeeeshiiiii~?”

Kote paused and glared at him, “Help me. Please. I can’t go out there because I know one of them. Maybe both. But I can’t go out there right now.”

Bast looked puzzled, then pressed his lips into a fine line. “So disappearing from already greeting them is going to solve it?”

“…Damn it.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I mean, I’ll help you out, but, you can’t hide out back here. Just, maybe, don’t talk to them. That should work.” Bast explained, starting to help his friend out with the cooking.

Kote sighed, “Maybe. Go get them drinks, please? I’ll get this done… gotta start for the rush anyway.”

Bast nodded and went off to get Hespe and her husband and kids drinks, coming back maybe ten minutes later, looking frazzled. “…Reshi…”

“Yes, Bast?”

“I hate kids.”

“I know, Bast.” He continued to cook and make sandwiches and stew, pulling out one of his pies and getting it read as well. he dished everything out onto plates as fast as possible, taking a few, and giving Bast the others to carry out. “Sorry for the wait… We weren’t expecting people just yet.” He said as he set plates down in front of people.

“That’s fine–” Hespa began.

“Took long enough.” 

“Dedan!” Hespa hissed, reaching over a kid and punching him in the arm. “Behave!”

 _‘Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.’_ Kote thought, keeping a smile on his face and dying on the inside. “I hope you enjoy. If you need anything, ask me or my helping hand.”

“And your name is?” Dedan asked, chewing his food already.

“Kote.” Kote replied without hesitation. hesitation made people seem odd. It gave people away.

Hespa said something softly to herself, but it was drowned int he sound of clacking silverware against plates and children shouting and laughing. She ate though, giving Kote a long hard stare still, glancing to Dedan on occasion.

Kote fidgeted softly, before nodding and smiling again. With that, he turned away and hid back in the kitchen with Bast.

“I think she knows…” Bast muttered.

“You **think**!” Kote hissed, putting his hands to his head. “Oh no, no, no. This is bad. Bast you don’t understand how bad this is.”

“I think I know.”

“ **Do** you? Really? You seem pretty calm for knowing how bad this is.” Kote snipped.

Bast held up his hands, “Look, freaking out isn’t going to help. If we keep calm, they won’t push. I– huh?” He paused and peeked out form the kitchen, listening in on a conversation.

Kote paused, but slowly peeked out as well, trying to hear what was going on.

The kids were laughing and talking, some of them making a strange noise and making a weird hand gesture to one another. Kote couldn’t hear, but he felt liek he knew what was up.

“Why are they saying… chek?” Bast whispered.

Kote groaned and hid his face in his hands, sliding back into the kitchen slowly. “That’s really Dedan and Hespa… Long story short, an Adem Mercenary beat Dedan’s ass, made fun of him by calling him a dog, and did that to him. guess Hespa never let that one go and their kids picked it up.”

Bast was quiet, before nodding slowly. “R….ight…” He replied, unsure. “well, they should be done soon. So, we won’t have to worry much longer.

Much longer was two hours, and a lunch rush from locals later. This forced Kote to go out and stand about, interact, and clean up due to the swell of people in the usually quiet inn. This forced him to be around Hespa and Dedan; one of which kept watching him as he interacted with regulars. Eventually, they were they last ones once more and getting ready to leave.

“Thanks for the meal! Already, outside again!” Dedan roared playfully over the kids, chasing all of them out the door like chickens.

Hespa hung behind, paying for everything. “Sorry about that… Trying to go see family and what not. Lots of kids to feed and feet to keep busy.”

Kote nodded, taking the money from her softly. “May your travels be safe.”

“Mhm…” She replied, not leaving right away.

“D…Do you need something else, ma’am?” Kote asked, blinking quickly. “Food for the travel? Water?”

“No, no.” She said, before giving a knowing smile. “I’m sure you don’t need anymore trouble from us. This should really be the last time you deal with the two of us.” With that, she turned and left the inn, closing the door behind her.

Bast paused his sweeping. “I told you she knew…”

“I know, Bast!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos if you read all the way though or enjoyed the piece! 
> 
> Want more KKC oriented content all the time? Go follow me on kote-the-inn-keeper.tumblr.com !


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